Rotary cutting assembly with filament feed

Claim 2

A rotary cutting assembly comprising, a driven member rotatable in a cutting plane about a drive axis and having a concentrically located spool storage area therein, said driven member including first and second parts positioned in spaced parallel relationship and defining the spool storage area within the driven member, means included in the first part of the driven member to couple the first part to a driven shaft defining the drive axis for the driven member, coupling means positioned on the second part to space and releasably couple the second part to the first part of the driven member, ratchet means positioned on said first part of said driven member, a spool with cutting line positioned thereon mounted over the ratchet means on said first part of driven member and having second ratchet means associated therewith to cooperate with the ratchet means on the first part, a ground engaging hub coupled to said spool and adapted to slide said spool and said ratchet means associated therewith toward said first part to allow relative rotation between said spool and said first part to unwind a predetermined amount of cutting line thereon from said spool, and bias means biasing said spool and said hub toward said second part, one end of said cutting line extending from said spool between the coupling means for rotation in the cutting plane upon rotation of the driven member and being supported in part on said coupling means.

Claim 3

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 1 in which the coupling means are a plurality of spaced peripherally mounted posts with at least two posts being displaceable and having notched extremities and extending through apertures in the first part for securing the second part to the first part.

Claim 4

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 1 in which the ground engaging hub is formed separate from the spool which is mounted thereon and is coupled thereto through a keyed coupling.

Claim 5

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 1 in which the ground engaging hub is formed integral with the spool.

Claim 6

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 1 in which the bias means is a spring positioned between the means coupling the first part to the drive shaft and the interior of the ground engaging hub.

Claim 7

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 3 in which the ground engaging hub includes the second ratchet means which cooperates with the ratchet means mounted on the first part.

Claim 8

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 4 in which the second ratchet means is mounted on the spool.

Claim 9

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 1 in which the predetermined amount of line unwound from the spool is determined by the spacing between teeth of the first and second ratchet means.

Claim 10

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 1 in which the ratchet means on the first part include a cylindrical hub with a plurality of equidistantly and angularly spaced teeth distributed on the outer periphery of the hub in spaced planes and the second ratchet means includes an equal number of angularly and equidistantly spaced, inwardly projecting teeth as positioned in one of the spaced planes which mesh with the teeth on the first named ratchet means.

Claim 11

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 8 in which the ratio of the number of teeth between the first and second ratchet means is 2:1.

Claim 12

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 8 in which the teeth of the second ratchet means are positioned on an interior cylindrical surface of the hub.

Claim 13

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 8 in which the teeth of the second ratchet means are positioned on an interior cylindrical surface of the spool.

Claim 14

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 8 in which one of the ratchet means on the first and second ratchet means has twice the number of teeth as the other with said one of said ratchet means having its teeth positioned in two rows with the teeth of the two rows being equidistantly angularly spaced from one another.

Claim 15

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 8 in which the second part of the driven member has an annular projecting lip to prevent the cutting line from sheering on the coupling means.

Claim 16

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 2 in which the parts of the coupling means are held secured during rotation through the action of the centrifugal force.

Claim 17

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 2 in which the spool storage area between said parts is open except for said posts to expel dust therefrom due to centrifugal force.

Claim 18

A spool for use in a weed cutting apparatus having a driven member with a spool mounting opening therein and with a drive hub having an indexing ratchet means thereon comprising, a spool for mounting flexible cutting line, said spool being formed with a central hub having spaced circular side plates formed integral therewith and extending therefrom with an aperture through the hub, ratchet means positioned on the inner surface of the hub in angularly spaced relationship, a hemispherical ground engaging hub means projecting from one side plate of the spool and covering said aperture, said ground engaging hub means being adapted to project out of the driven member when the spool is mounted thereon and upon engagement with a surface to move the spool and release engagement of the ratchet means of the drive hub from that of the spool.

Claim 19

A spool for use in a weed cutting apparatus having a driven member with a spool mounting opening therein and with a drive hub having an indexing ratchet means thereon comprising, a spool for mounting flexible cutting line, said spool being formed with a central hub having spaced circular side plates formed integral therewith and extending therefrom with an aperture through the hub, ratchet means positioned on the inner surface of the hub in angularly spaced relationship, a hemispherical ground engaging hub means projecting from one side plate of the spool and covering said aperture, said ground engaging hub means being adapted to project out of the driven member when the spool is mounted thereon and upon engagement with a surface to move the spool and release engagement of the ratchet means of the drive hub from that of the spool.

Claim 20

The spool for use in a weed cutting apparatus of claim 17 in which the spool has flexible plastic line mounted thereon and tied at one end to the spool with the free end of the line projecting from the driven member.

Claim 21

The spool for use in weed cutting apparatus of claim 17 in which the ratchet means on the interior of the spool is formed with the plurality of equidistantly angularly spaced teeth lying in the same plane.

Claim 22

The spool for use in weed cutting apparatus of claim 17 in which the ground engaging hub means has a removable wear cap connected thereto.

Claim 23

The spool for use in weed cutting apparatus of claim 17 in which ground engaging hub means is hemispherical and is formed integral with one side of the spool.

Claim 24

The spool for use in weed cutting apparatus of claim 21 in which the spool and the hub are formed of a plastic material.

Claim 25

The spool for use in a weed cutting apparatus of claim 21 in which the spool and hub are formed of a metallic material.

Claim 26

A rotary cutting assembly comprising: a driven member rotatable about a drive axis and having a concentrically located spool storage space therein, said driven member including first and second parts positioned in spaced relationship to define the spool storage space within the driven member, means for connecting the first part of the driven member to a drive shaft, coupling means for spacing and releasably coupling the second part to the first part of the driven member, first ratchet means connected to said first part of said driven member, a spool with cutting line wound thereon positioned around said first ratchet means on the first part of the driven member and having second ratchet means associated therewith for cooperation with said first ratchet means, said first and second ratchet means having spaced teeth thereon, a ground engaging hub coupled to said spool and adapted to slide said spool and second ratchet means toward said first part thereby to allow relative rotation between said spool and said first part to unwind a predetermined amount of cutting line from the spool determined by the spacing between the teeth on said first and said second ratchet means, and bias means normally urging said spool and said hub away from said first part, one end of the cutting line extending from said spool between said first and said second parts of said driven member for rotation in a cutting plane perpendicular to said axis upon rotation of said driven member.

Claim 27

A rotary cutting assembly comprising: a driven member rotatable about a drive axis and having a concentrically located spool storage space therein, said driven member including first and second parts positioned in spaced relationship to define the spool storage space within the driven member, means for connecting the first part of the driven member to a drive shaft, coupling means for spacing and releasably coupling the second part to the first part of the driven member, first ratchet means connected to said first part of said driven member, a spool with cutting line wound thereon positioned around said first ratchet means on the first part of the driven member and having second ratchet means associated therewith for cooperation with said first ratchet means, said first and second ratchet means having spaced teeth thereon, a ground engaging hub coupled to said spool and adapted to slide said spool and second ratchet means toward said first part thereby to allow relative rotation between said spool and said first part to unwind a predetermined amount of cutting line from the spool determined by the spacing between the teeth on said first and said second ratchet means, and bias means normally urging said spool and said hub away from said first part, one end of the cutting line extending from said spool between said first and said second parts of said driven member for rotation in a cutting plane perpendicular to said axis upon rotation of said driven member.

Claim 28

A rotary cutting assembly comprising, a driven member rotatable about a drive axis and having a concentrically located spool storage space therein, said driven member including first and second parts positioned in spaced relationship to define the spool storage space within the driven member, means for connecting the first part of the driven member to a drive shaft, coupling means for spacing and releasably coupling said first and said second parts of said driven member, a spool with cutting line wound thereon mounted in said spool storage space between the parts of said driven member, means for indexing cutting line from the spool including first and second ratchet means, one of said ratchet means being coupled to the first part of the driven member, the other of said ratchet means being carried by the second part of said driven member and positioned to cooperate with the ratchet means coupled to the first part of said driven member, said spool being positioned around said first and second ratchet means and coupled to one of said ratchet means so as to rotate within the driven member upon relative rotation between the first and second ratchet means, a ground engaging hub carried by one of the parts of the driven member and being movable axially with respect to the other part of the driven member to move one of the ratchet means axially relative to the other of the ratchet means to allow relative rotation between the ratchet means and between said spool and said driven member, and bias means normally restraining hub against the axial movement, said first and second ratchet means having spaced teeth thereon to limit relative rotation between the ratchet means for each axial movement to unwind a predetermined amount of cutting line from the spool determined by the spacing between the teeth on said first and second ratchet means, one end of the cutting line extending from the spool between the parts of the driven member.

Claim 29

A rotary cutting assembly comprising, a driven member rotatable about a drive axis and having a concentrically located spool storage space therein, said driven member including first and second parts positioned in spaced relationship to define the spool storage space within the driven member, means for connecting the first part of the driven member to a drive shaft, coupling means for spacing and releasably coupling said first and said second parts of said driven member, a spool with cutting line wound thereon mounted in said spool storage space between the parts of said driven member, means for indexing cutting line from the spool including first and second ratchet means, one of said ratchet means being coupled to the first part of the driven member, the other of said ratchet means being carried by the second part of said driven member and positioned to cooperate with the ratchet means coupled to the first part of said driven member, said spool being positioned around said first and second ratchet means and coupled to one of said ratchet means so as to rotate within the driven member upon relative rotation between the first and second ratchet means, a ground engaging hub carried by one of the parts of the driven member and being movable axially with respect to the other part of the driven member to move one of the ratchet means axially relative to the other of the ratchet means to allow relative rotation between the ratchet means and between said spool and said driven member, and bias means normally restraining hub against the axial movement, said first and second ratchet means having spaced teeth thereon to limit relative rotation between the ratchet means for each axial movement to unwind a predetermined amount of cutting line from the spool determined by the spacing between the teeth on said first and second ratchet means, one end of the cutting line extending from the spool between the parts of the driven member.

Claim 30

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 25 and means included in one of the parts of the driven members for supporting the cutting line for rotation in the cutting plane.

Claim 31

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 25 in which one of the ratchet means has twice the number of teeth as the other of said ratchet means with said one of said ratchet means having its teeth positioned in two rows equidistantly spaced from one another.

Claim 32

The rotary cutting assembly of claim 25 in which the ratio number of teeth between the first and second ratchet means is two to one.